The present invention relates to a reconfigurable payment device, methods and systems that enable products and services to be purchased by means of electronic payment transactions, such as by means of credit and debit card transactions, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses that enhance the efficiency of the execution of these types of transactions.
At the point of sale, the electronic payment industry has typically relied upon payment devices that utilize a swipe card reader (aka., magnetic stripe reader, card reader, magstripe reader, mag head) for capturing customer transaction information from a customer electronic payment card. These traditional payment devices can provide their magnetic stripe reading functionality in different ways, such as an external swipe reader through which a customer passes a card (i.e., typical retail point of sale device) and an insertion reader (such as those found on a gas pump) into which the customer inserts a card for reading by the payment device. Many of the devices and methods for performing these types of electronic payment transactions, which includes the performance of electronic credit and debit transactions, have been in use for decades. To address various specific needs for enabling the execution of electronic payment transactions unique physical and process requirements have been developed for electronic payment devices and included into the transaction process.
Traditionally for various industries, such as in the laundry industry, there have been primarily two methods of mounting card readers: 1. First is the insertion reader, which is typically mounted partially inside of a laundry machine. These readers either require totally replacing the cash payment on the machine, or developing complicated brackets and enclosures to attach them to the machine, often requiring significant alteration of the machine. 2. Second is the surface mounted right hand vertical swipe reader that has been used to reduce or eliminate the number of brackets needed, and to allow the existing coin payment to remain in place.
It is common for electronic payment devices to be mounted upon different surfaces. These surfaces may vary and be provided by many different types of structures, such as machines and other mediums upon which a payment device may be fixated. It may be the case that various obstructions may exist on these surfaces which can impact upon the use of the electronic payment devices. Commonly, electronic payment devices have dealt with the problem of obstructions to the swipe path in various ways. One method has been to locate the device in a different, less convenient location, making it more difficult to use by the cardholder. Another method used has been to place an extender behind the device to bring the swipe path out beyond the obstruction. A third has been to place the reader on a bracket that puts the device above the machine and/or surface to allow room to swipe the card. These latter methods require additional parts to be purchased and installed and cause the entire device to protrude farther from the machine and/or surfaces, where it is both aesthetically displeasing as well as an obstruction.
It has typically been the case that on many laundry machines the traditional payment devices, particularly the insertion readers, used in the credit card industry do not provide a convenient mounting option for laundry machines. They cannot be mounted to a laundry machine without modifications (i.e., cutting) to the machine or developing a mounting assembly, such as through the use of a number of brackets to hold the card readers to the machine and make it possible to access the read head. Readers that mount to the surface of the machine have been developed to overcome these limitations, but to date many of these devices cannot overcome obstructions presented and/or provide the needed clearance required for swiping a card. For instance, many of these devices present “right hand” vertical swipe terminals such as found in retail and vending applications. These terminals have the inherent limitation that they offer only one orientation of the swipe. Right hand vertical swipe readers cannot be used on many laundry machines and other surfaces that are considered “card ready” due to the clearance required for swiping a card. There may be some readers that use an off-the-shelf swipe bar that is independent of the rest of the laundry device. While these devices may not have a “right-handedness”, they typically are not considered a fully integrated device nor inherently provide capabilities to overcome obstructions to the swiping of a card.
It can also be the case that these machines and/or surfaces have obstructions, such as a door, coin vault or other items, that extend beyond the face or front of the machine and/or from the surface that are also impediments to using a right hand vertical swipe. It is often the case that additional mounting assemblies, such as brackets, are required to extend them past these obstructions and provide the necessary swipe clearance. Card readers are also used with “stacked” machines, where one machine (e.g., dryer) is on top of another (e.g., washing machine). This machine configuration requires two card readers where it may often be the case that one card reader is located above the other card reader. In such a configuration a right-hand card reader, because the lower reader blocks the swipe from the upper, may be inoperable. It can also be the case that meeting the specifications of other requirements, such as ADA requirements, make insertion readers and right hand swipe readers difficult to mount on and be used upon various machines, such as large high capacity commercial machines, and surfaces.
It is therefore desired to provide an apparatus, methods and systems that address these weaknesses in present electronic payment devices used in the performance of electronic payment transactions.